The Only Exception
by elizabethlauger
Summary: Dark AU. She grew up and was somewhere between duty, and her heart. She isn't living a life of her own, and is living in deplorable circumstances. What can you do when you lose everything? Can you put a life back together when you don't even know what happiness is anymore. Rating M. Sofia x Cedric
1. They're not like tremors, they are worse

She's not the queen of anything. She isn't the one to take the throne, and she wasn't born to be anything other than the simple village girl that she started out as. Learning to be a princess was not a piece of cake. It wasn't an easy feat. She conquered it She knows the things to say, and what kind of person that she is meant to be. She is a supporter of the throne. Someone who will help the king rule after her father passes on.

She wasn't such a little one anymore more. She was about to come of age, in about a year. As a princess she was to take on the tasks of being the dignitary. She was the made princess so she was almost, more so than Amber, to find a suitable husband. Someone who had the ability to take care of her, and to make her a queen of her own.

Amber had grown well. She was as lovely as her mother was. Long blonde hair, and amber eyes. Fully grown and having every prince in waiting at the castle steps. Messages would come day and night, and she refused to accept first offers, so she waited until she got an offer she was pleased with. I wouldn't expect anything else from her.

I had grown myself. I had a "woman's" figure now. I had changed over time, but still such a hopeless romantic deep inside. How in the world is a princess honestly supposed to dream of true love? That was something that happened far from the normalcy, those that did have it had to make great sacrifices, and I can't sacrifice anymore for my behaviors. I learned that lesson the hard way.


	2. Can't Make My Own Decisions

**(A/n: the song used to help write this chapter is Disenchanted- My Chemical Romance)**

I woke and looked out my window to see the rain. It seemed kind of an ominous way to start my day, but it isn't like I had high hopes for today anyways. I'd rather just stay in bed all day but that doesn't seem like it is going to be much of an option. I can already hear the maids in my closet putting together this particular day's wardrobe. The same thing I have worn since I was a young thing, it seems just more fabric added and a corset as I got older. I'm not expecting anyone to not celebrate, but couldn't we just do it privately by now. It's not like we need to drag this out every single year.

However I am not the queen, and I am constantly reminded that I will never be. So I must do as I am told, and put on my princess face and make it through this day. It's freezing as I pull myself out of the warmth of my bed. I scuttle over to the fireplace and warm my hands over the coals from the night before. I make a mental note to ask Cedric about a spell for heat.

I can hear the maids whispering about the day's events they are not particularly excited about today either, as their job is tenfold harder than any other day. However a princess does not fraternize with the help so I can't join in their discussion, and I can't even acknowledge that I heard anything that they were privately discussing in my closet.

I shouldn't have waited so long to get out of bed. My breakfast is already cold, and my tea might as well be iced with a little lemon on the side. I let out a sigh and put my cup down a little harder than normal. Mainly for them to know that I am out here, not eavesdropping on their conversation.

The voices hush immediately, letting me know that they heard me. Here come the charades.

The "oh you look lovely today miss" "Here is your gown for today." As if I already didn't know.

"Time to fix your hair miss, you have potential suitors at the ball we were told to remind you."

"Your shoes are lovely today miss."

"Will you be wearing the amulet today miss?"

They pick out my entire outfit, they do my hair, they put on my shoes, and they even put on my jewelry. I am a literal puppet at this point in my life. A princess is supposed to let this charade take place. No matter how annoying that I may find this entire process.

Fairly soon though they were finished and I was left to sit in my room until called. On anniversary day we do not dine as a family. So I am left to my icy tea and hard muffins. I knew better than to stay in bed so long, but it's not like I was that hungry to begin with.

I sat and looked out the window for such a long time I can't tell you honestly how long it was. Long enough I guess. The rain wasn't letting up though. It was cold and I liked it. It was colder today than it normally way and I took comfort in that. Baileywick came to my room to gather me for the ceremony. I was lost in my thoughts that I didn't notice him until he touched my shoulder.

Thinking about my options, my life, the life I would have had if my mother had not married the king. I assume that we would have kept the business my father started. I probably would have married someone in town. Probably the baker's son. That seems to fit the scene that would have played out.

That life is just a scene in my head, not that the one I was given. I can't play it out because I don't know where I am here day to day.

I walked to the throne room where I meet Amber and James in their yearly attire. They both have the same look on their face that I have on mine. The look of being poised and dignified, leaving none the wiser.

Everyone in the room awaits the king's signal. We wait for him to make the motion that we may move to our seats. We stand for nothing short of an eternity. Cedric appears to the side doing the lighting, making them dim, and arranging the flowers in perfect and meticulous order that father requires. As the last flower finds its mark Father appears from behind the curtains.

"Greetings honored guests, and royal members of this family, as well as beloved people of Enchancia. I am honored that you could be with us to celebrate the life of my late Queen Miranda. She was the love of my life. To have her taken from me after barely four years seems like a crime to the heavens. Please allow us to pay our respects to the woman that lit up my life."

I loved my mother. I loved her more than another soul on this planet. My love for my mother is undying, but this thing, this "celebration" that we have to endure makes it all the harder to grieve. Father had mother's body preserved, or shall I say enchanted. Cedric did an amazing job. She is laid to rest in very much the same fashion as Snow White. I must once a year gaze into a face that looks strikingly like my own.

Like a good princess I do my duty, and act lone the wiser. I walk by her and keep my face straight. Even if my insides start writhing up and I feel as though I am being torn to pieces. I do my job.

After we sit we then have to parade around and have a reception. We have to essentially party in my mother's name. It's a good time to encounter some fire-whiskey. Wine isn't something that is going to cut it today.

After several hours and a lot of liquor later I am ready to find a bed. Perfect in form I leave gracefully, and take the long climb to bed.


	3. We'll be Counting Stars

Now it may surprise you. As it did myself at first, but be prepared for something shocking.

I walked up many stairs until I came face to face with the door, and let myself in. I threw off my shoes beside the door, and made my way to bed trying to get out of the clothing that I was forced to drape myself in. I pulled at my corset not very carefully, and threw it in the corner. I fell face first into the bed with my undergarments on. It is such an unlady like way to sleep, but at this point I am trying not to care about it.

I wrap myself up in the blankets, preparing myself for a rather cold evening. I snuggled into the bed until I found the other person I was looking for. He had a rather large bed, and had left the party a long time ago. Parties weren't his thing, and frankly I didn't care for them either, especially not this one. It was my turn to sleep in his room, we take shifts you see. Even though his room is at the top of the castle and it is generally freezing, at least he keeps it fairly warm up here for me.

Don't worry. We haven't been naughty, he hasn't ruined me for my future husband. He is my best friend. He is the only one who has been there for me, and to be honest with me ever since it happened. Ever since I was left an orphan for lack of a better word. I'm a step princess without the tie that put me there. I am the orphan who has been reminded on far too many occasions that I can be sent back where I came from.

Overall I always do as I am told. I uphold being a princess because my mother taught me well. This is the only thing I deviate from, and Cedric has been the rock I needed, so this is the only thing I do that may tip the scales on my perfect princess behavior.

Cedric is the best friend I have. After I lost Clover, he is all I have.

He keeps me warm, sedated from nightmares, and never fails.

I know my body is cold when I press it up against his, he'd been there much longer than I had been. He doesn't act phased, just maneuvers to allow me to move closer. He lifted his arm so I could move into my spot, and curl my back into his chest. He smells like a mix of the air after it stops raining, and brimstone. Those are two smells that I happen to love, and two smells that calm me down. He has his chin at my shoulder blade and I can feel where he needs to shave, but the roughness against my skin doesn't bother me. It's quite soothing, especially after this much alcohol intake.

It's easy to drift off to sleep breathing in the scent of Cedric, and the warmth of another human being.

I feel I should tell you how these visits came to pass. You see one night a few years after my mother passed I was still having night terrors. I would scream and thrash to no means, until I finally woke myself up or someone else. Father had tried what he could, but he couldn't find his way out of his sorrows to help me, or anyone else for that matter. I was almost 14 at this point, and well past the times that I should be having "nightmares" as he would say, not caring about the difference.

I was left to my screaming and thrashing when one night my friend, who shares an inability to sleep as well. He told me once of his demons and that he needed someone to help him. In truth it is what we do for each other.

I was calmly woken that night which was different from every other night. No one was shaking me, which I was already generally doing. He was stroking my hair, and said my name gently. I calmed and apologized for bothering him. He must had felt some pity for me because he said he would stay until I fell back asleep. I fell back asleep and work early the next morning to find he had fallen asleep as well. Such a small gesture was enough to help me put myself back together enough to get out of bed before the tea service arrived.

As it turned out I couldn't cope with the one night. I functioned perfectly that day, but several nights passed after that one, and I was just back to my normal self. I got up one night after several weeks of screaming. I wandered the castle and grounds until I was too tired to carry my body any farther. I ended up passing out in the foyer of the castle. You can imagine the shock from the staff upon finding me there the next morning. I was fussed at for an illogical amount of time.

That night Father had Cedric enchant my door so I couldn't open it. So that I couldn't even use my skeleton key to get out. The embarrassment that I caused was unthinkable of course. I went to sleep that night and was awoken again the same soothing way. He set the curse so of course he could open the door. He stayed with me all night. He disapperated in the morning this started the process that we are finding ourselves He has been with me for so long I don't know what I would do without him

However all dreams must end. Our night in his room is cut early. Wormwood squawks to let us know what time it is. I have to get to my room before the maids get there. I gathered my clothes and kissed his cheek. Before throwing some Floo powder on the flames and going to my room.

**(a/n) Song listened to when writing this Chapter is Counting Stars- One Republic**


	4. Bulletproof

**(A/n) The song used as inspiration for this chapter is: Jumper - Bedlight for Blue Eyes (yes the cover) :)**

I climb out of my grate about two minutes before the tea service arrives. I rush to my closet and place my jewelry back into their display cases, and my shoes in their proper place on the shelves. My other attire I place in the daily basket to be taking off for cleaning when the maid comes in. I rush to find the gown that I am was to wear last night, which had been set out before the party for my sleep. I should have come by last night so I wouldn't be in such a rush this morning, but live and learn. I clamber into my bed quickly with thirty seconds or so to spare.

The bed is freezing from my absence in it last night. Amber will be asleep until at least noon today since we no longer take breakfast together as a family. She is allowed that privilege. I do not envy her, I just hate having to constantly prove myself.

I hear the lock in the door click softly. Father had Cedric make a key sometime after having the door enchanted. Father said it was tedious to have him come down every morning to let me out of my room. He was already staying almost every night with me as it was. So it was a private joke for us when the key was made.

Adriana comes into the room quietly. I hear her place the tray on the table in front of the fireplace. She starts a fire in the grate that I had come through no less than 5 minutes ago. She draws the curtains, and gathers my basket from my wardrobe and lets herself out. Allowing me to feign sleep in peace.

She is gone to leave me to my morning. Until Baileywick comes in to tell me my schedule for the day. What I have to get done today, and what face I have to play today. I sigh and roll out of the bed. I walk over to my table and sit and pour myself some tea. I don't put anything in my tea anymore. The stronger it is, the better I feel. I pulled my legs up into the seat. I wrapped my fingers around the cup and placed it next to my face. I was watching the sky, it looked like it was going to snow that day, but with this cold that we have right now. It's not surprising that we would get it. It is definitely colder today than it was yesterday.

I prefer to spend my mornings alone, but it seems a rare event that I get to do this. These mornings where I get to lazily spend my time gathering my thoughts, and preparing for the charades that I am to endure today. Honestly it gets harder to do this every day, but it's my job to make sure that they don't see that. Amber and James haven't been the same with me in years. Not after I went a little crazy, and not after the fact that our country didn't have a queen anymore. They love me, as I love them, but we can no longer be confidants. Father has slowly but surely seen to that. His grief has gotten the better of him and has driven a wedge in the family.

I thought of Clover, and how I missed him. He was gone, his death racked my insides making me dread even the simplest tasks. Rabbits don't live as long as humans everyone pointed out when I was devastated by his death. The weather isn't good for the soul. I need sunshine, but Summer is still a ways off, and I'm left to myself otherwise. Other than Cedric of course. I can't run to him all the time when I need comforting. I should learn to stand on my own. When I am forced to marry I won't be able to take him with me. I am going to have to come to terms with what has happened to me at some point in time. Sadly I just haven't been ready.

I felt a few tears slip down my cheeks, and I hear the door open. Thankfully I am facing the other way when Baileywick enters. I have the twenty seconds I need to compose myself and respond to his schedule for me for the day.

I am to go to the throne room to meet Father, and greet him for the day. I am to read the proposal contracts from the different suitors. I am to pick one before the week is out. I am go to dance lesson, and spend the remainder of my day in solitude studying, and preparing my acceptance letter to the suitor I choose.

I kept my face composed despite the screaming going on inside my body. My body was left in form. Shoulders back and down, ankles crossed, and hands folded in my lap like a lily. I was finally after all this time a near perfect princess. He leaves my room and my day maids attend to my outward appearance. They place me in an off white gown, not so white that is resembles a wedding dress, but a more cream color. The lace my corset to an almost unbearable point, but it's not my comfort that matters at this point. I never wear jewelry if I can help it, but it really isn't my choice. The only thing I am very stern about is that I do no wear the amulet. I refuse to put it back on my neck, so it just sits in the case. After losing Clover I just can't. I can't do it anymore. I don't care about the power it has, I can't do that again. They stick me in a Ruby necklace, one that just feels too much like the amulet. I can feel myself wanting to get emotional, but I swallow it down just like everything else.

They are gone soon after, and I'm able to stand in my wardrobe a moment more and give myself a moment to free a few tears wipe them away and pull to solid form before going to see Father. I regain my posture and leave to see his Majesty.


	5. You Don't Have to Feel Safe

**(A/N) Thank you people for the lovely reviews :)**

**Also the song used in the assistance of writing this chapter is: Dreams-The Cranberries**

His Majesty sure does make it hard on me to keep my vows. The vows I made to myself, but vows none the less. He doesn't make me feel anything for him anymore. Not after my mother died, and especially since he blames me for his death. However let's be honest, so do I. So I do as I'm told.

I just appeared before the throne as a commoner does. Seeing as I was a commoner it makes sense that I would appear just like that. He was dressed for his day in his normal garb, but every day since the Queen perished he has worn a single black rose on his lapel. Seeing he isn't forgetting anything. It's romantic in its own sense, but it allows me to know I am to never be forgiven for my mistake.

He never refers to me by my name, not in years. I am young miss. That is my name to him and most of the staff. They know who it means, and rather than lose their job they just do as he says. The kingdom is not the same as it once way. The prosperous kingdom that once was, filled with joy, happiness, laughter, and optimism was gone. When it seemed like Cedric was the most lonely soul in the kingdom, and that we would all grow and prosper it just isn't the way. James is a king in waiting, he has been taught well, but the last years have been poisoned. Who is to say how he will be when that day comes.

The kingdom is struggling. My marriage is very important. I am a pawn in the game. My hand while not as worthy as Amber's is enough to gain the kingdom money. I am a beauty they say. I am worthy of money. I am to be traded for my face, figure, and what they refer to as being fertile. This is all I am worth these days. I'm to be used as a vessel for children and my personality counts for naught. So far gone are the days when I would dream lazily about true love. I would dream of a prince who would love me for me, and we would be together because we could bear a day without each other.

A sickness grows in my stomach when I think about the prospects for my life, and the continuance of the things I am supposed to do. The things that a princess does. The things I have to do even though I would never be the Queen. The sickness comes when I think of the past, and then I feel myself aching for a bottle of something to keep my nerves still.

However a princess isn't allowed to indulge herself unless there is occasion to do so. Unless of course I am with Cedric and he always has a bottle on hand.

His majesty spent this morning reminding me that I am to look for a suitor that will be able to help with the debt to the kingdom, or that can protect the kingdom. That dowry is so very important to him. He will go over my selection, but he has the right to veto my choice of course. If for some reason that I found that I didn't like the options that I was given I was able to spend time the remainder of my life in the now ruined village that I came from. The people when given little options in the village turned to be the people who I had never known. It seemed intentionally that the King failed to take care of that small village. He dropped it and didn't take notice of it after. That's about the same way he has taken to notice me. I'm just a particle.

I went back to my room slowly. Absorbing my feelings, and swallowing them down. When I make it back to my suite lying there on my desk is a stack of parchment from the prospective husbands. The ones that were on top were the ones most likely (according to the note that Baileywick left) were to please the king. I take into account that he calls me Sofia. My heart aches a little at it. He hasn't said it out loud in so long I have forgotten. Just reading it on paper is enough to make me want to sob. It lets me know my suspicions are true, that the staff do what they have to do to keep their place. Just like I have to do what I do to keep mine. It's one in the same, and my heart breaks.

After an afternoon reading a ledgers worth of proposals, and not feeling that special loving feeling from any of them. I found that I am worth almost next to nothing to some people, but to others I am worth enough gold to get the king out of debt. I am worth a militia and a navy. In all honesty I am starting to feel like a concubine.

I went to dance after reading my "love letters". My dance uniform no longer consists of a ball gown. They are very form fitting, and my new dance teacher has leering eyes. I assume these lovely uniforms are the work of a lonely man, and very much done on purpose. Especially to the fact that we dance one on one sessions ever since us princesses started developing into women. I ignore the looks, and the side comments. Today however it's harder to resist the urge to punch him in the face and send a hex his way.

Since you may not have known, Cedric has taught me quite a bit of magic, nothing to big yet. It took me a long time to convince him to teach me the real stuff, but I know a few hexes from a book in his room. _Basic Hexes for the Busy and Vexed. _He said he picked it up in his youth, which explains why it has a kid's writings in the margins. He said it came from a place called Flourish and Blotts. He wanted to take me someday. We both know that is one of those promises that you make, and you both know that it isn't something that will ever come to fruition.

Thankfully after an extremely long session of ballet I did get to go back and spend the remainder of my day in solitude. Not that I don't love dance. I love to dance. I practice in my room frequently. When I really lose myself in a song it is beyond anything I have ever done. The self-part of me is able to drift above me, and I can live.

Living through my days to an outsider might not seem that bad. I live in comfort. I am grateful for it. I have my own room, and nice things. I don't have to cook or really work hard at all. However I am an emotional wreck. I do my part, but I spend so much time alone. I'm a prisoner. I am a prisoner in a very nice prison. I put myself in this position when my mother died. I deserve this. I don't complain to anyone. I am lonely.

I'd hope I could be forced to be married to someone who would love me, and then my loneliness would disappear.

However, when I returned to my room, I remembered that I wasn't as lonely as I thought.

Upon my bed sealed by a spell was a package from my one and only friend.


	6. I'd Never Let You Fall

It was in wrapped in brown paper, tied with string. It was a small parcel and yet it made me delighted after the miserable afternoon that I was enduring. It was sealed magically, and would only open to my touch. After pulling off the paper there was a small box inside. I flipped open the lid of the box. Inside was a small locket. It wasn't heart shaped, it was a decagon shaped locket. It popped open easily there was a picture made of glass resembling the glass portrait of the family in the throne room. It was of the two of them. In his room. They were sleeping in the most comfortable fashion, and in a way that made my heart ache knowing my days were numbered.

I looked down in the box to find a small piece of parchment with a note written in his slanted script

_Sofia, the news of your upcoming nuptials has been spread throughout the castle. I know this pains you deeply, and I am so sorry there isn't anything I can do to stop this for you. When the day comes that you must leave I wish that you find happiness. This locket, like this passage will only open to your touch so do not fear its presence. I hope it reminds you of happier times when the days come that we cannot be like this any longer. You brought happiness into my life, when I had none. I want the best for you always._

_XX- Cedric_

I felt tears hot on my face. I was dizzy, and having trouble standing. I was fairly sure that I was going to faint. I had to remind myself to breathe in and out. Cedric always knew what to say to life my spirits, but he also knew what to say to make me feel. I haven't felt a genuine emotion in another person's presence or in their writing in so long sometimes I think I have forgotten what it's like. However I am certain that Cedric was sent to me to break my heart after building it up.

I took a deep breath. No I couldn't be upset with him. I wasn't upset with him. I was upset from where I was standing, and what my life was handing. I had a stack of proposals from people I didn't know. The princes I went to school with weren't available for someone like me. I was a prize to be won on beauty. My self-worth is nothing, but a face. The king knows it. My proposals are coming from places in the world I had never set foot and dignitaries that I was not familiar with. They offer everything for the prospect of my fertility bringing them handsome princes, and beautiful princesses.

I spend the rest of the day into the evening sitting in front of my fire. Trying to write, trying to decide, trying not to throw up, and trying not to fall apart. My dinner was served upon the normal time. I escaped to my water closet, or really my enormous excuse for a bathroom. I'd rather just be allowed to be for a moment. I want to cry in peace. I want to feel the end of my life as I know it.

I ignored my food not feeling any need to eat. Not even feeling the urge to eat, there was not a hunger in my belly tonight. I grabbed a spare comforter from the linen closet in the W.C. I could easily wrap it around myself 5 times. I draped it over myself as though it was a large cloak. I go sit on my balcony in the comforter. I might get in trouble for this, but I need a moment. Amber was simply delighted by her proposals, but she in fact gets to marry the prince of her dreams. She gets married in a few weeks actually. The glamorous affair that it is being called. She got to choose her path. I love her dearly. I am so glad that she is happy. I always hoped that when she was no longer in the castle in a castle where she is queen our relationship could blossom again. I needed my sister, but there I was sitting on my balcony in the drizzling rain with the comforter wrapped around my body in the freezing cold.

The tent that I had created myself kept me plenty warm. The cold that blew in on my face reminded me that I was there, and I needed that. The warmth from myself made tent caused me to drift. I drifted in and out of consciousness for a while. It wasn't until I realized that my head was on a pillow instead of surrounded by a make shift hood, and that was lying instead of sitting up. I had been moved.

My eyes were closed and I they fluttered open when I came back in the conscious world. I opened my blue eyes and staring back at me were the brown eyes that I had grown used to seeing.

"Sofia, what were you thinking?" He sighed at me. "You could have made yourself sick, you could have died out there." He spoke to me calmly, never raising his voice. He spoke with concern.

"I'm sorry," was all I could choke out.

I started crying before I could say anything else, before I could even give him a reason for my behavior. Without asking anything from me he wraps his arms around me. Cedric had come so far from the man I met as a child to the man I know now. Twelve years my senior and he was my best friend.

When I was a child he was hell bent on my amulet. He wanted it as much as I wanted to be a perfect princess. He succeeded once in getting the amulet. In tears over the upcoming loss of the kingdom I pleaded with him to be kind and merciful. The people didn't deserve to be ruled by anyone other than a leader who could care about them. On my knees in his tower with tears rolling, my putting the kingdom first he saw fit to hand it back. With the agreement that someday when he learned to love the kingdom more than he loved himself he would take it back. He promised that.

As time passed the more we grew together that promise lie somewhere far away. There was never a time in my life that I wished he would keep that promise to me than now.


	7. Laughing At the Sun

I know you would like to tell me _be careful what you wish for. _I know more than ever what I wish for. Especially after the wedding. The wedding that caused me to lose anything left in myself that I considered mine. Everything else I had in me seemed belong to Cedric or the kingdom. I had nothing left to claim for myself. The days passed in a regular succession.

I had made my picks for my suitor. I chose princes whose names I couldn't even remember knowing full well whomever I did choose would be vetoed by the king, and I would then have to marry who he said. He was giving my false hope in my choosing, because I knew that it was no choice of mine at all. Hope is what fuels the world, false hope is the worst kind of hope. It feels you with feelings that you know better than to trust yet you do it anyways. You know not to do it. You tell yourself to not even get encouraged by the hope. You know it isn't real. The idea of having an option, a choice that something is in your control in any situation is a silver lining.

My light was only a flicker, but after I turned in my letters of agreement they were all but rejected by Father. The king decided that I could not make this decision on my own. I was too young, and not able to know what the kingdom really needs from my sale. Something I assumed was coming, but still painful enough to cause repercussions on my mind.

Cedric was having a hard time keeping me calm at night. If I was having night terrors with him there then what hope did I have to get myself under control? I'd wake with him gripping me, talking to me calmly telling me that everything was okay. He would tell me that he was there. Hold me and keep me calm. I'd have ripped the curtains off of the bed from my thrashing. He would look at me with concern in his eyes, but his night clothes would be disheveled. I felt guilty for causing him distress.

I could not come up with the words to tell him how sorry I was for making life harder on him. As hard as life is on me, it was never an easy thing for him. He did get to have solitude, but when you are only constantly mocked from the kingdom solitude is preferred. His magic is powerful, I daresay more than his father's, but the king as long since allowed him to demonstrate he is only on call for spells that the he wants, or potions that he wants. When I told you the kingdom wasn't the same anymore I meant it. The king is not the same man I once knew. He is no longer the warm soul who loved his people, his children, and myself.

The king is selfish and we are at his whim.

The wedding of Amber and Hugo. This was a happy day. She was pleased to be marrying the man "of her dreams". She would be Queen and she would have everything that her heart desires. Hugo's snobbish older brother passed away. Leaving Hugo to be the king. The future king needed a woman who could rule. She has been ruling her life since she was born, and Hugo would give her anything that her heart desired.

She was beautiful. Her wedding was her. Lavish is the only word I can use to describe it without making it sound garish. She was glamourous. Her gown was classy, but if showed her flair. I cannot imagine a more beautiful wedding. Though my everyday can be tragic in a sense I was so happy my sister was getting her wishes. Every detail of that wedding she designed down to what the staffs shoes looked like, including my dress as well I stayed with Cedric the night before getting better sleep in his room than in my own. We were able to get more rest for the day ahead of us.

After my sister made her vows they left in a flying carriage to go to their honeymoon. A location that she scouted months in advance for of course. Somewhere tropic. A palace by the sea. She was thrilled. She hugged me before she left leaving all the unsaid things over the years in that hug and look upon her face. She let a few tears fall as she let go to leave. My eyes were brimming as well.

I was to return to my room after the party.

I was on my way to my room when fate intervened.

A man whom I did not know pulled grabbed me from behind, hand covering my mouth dragged me into a closet off the main hall. A gag was quickly put over me, and I was bound. Do not mistake what say as I did not fight. I fought with everything I had, but I did not have the strength to overcome him.

The closet was small. There was not a lot in it other than cleaning supplies. Whomever this person was locked the door from what I could tell. It was dark and I could not see the abductor.

It was in this closet that I was hurt. Hurt beyond hurt. So much so I do not want to go into complete detail. I am no longer pure. He tore my dress, and placed rough hands over my fragile body. He was not gentle. He was rough. I could feel the bruises he was leaving on my skin. My dress was torn and I have never felt dirtier. I could feel the blood loss from me, the blood loss from having my virtue taken from me. I knew it was all over my dress. I knew I couldn't hide it from myself.

When he was done with me. A rag was put over my face. Something that knocked me out that smelled like almonds. I was found in the foyer.

A maid's screams still echo in my ears.


End file.
